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dew. But ere the sun reached his meridian, the flowers parched by his beams, had drooped their heads and died, and the morning dew had "passed away."

4. From a wild and lonely spot, thickly shaded with heavy forest-trees, issued a small streamlet. Gently it pursued its course around the hills and through the valleys; now meandering through green meadows, and anon forcing its way among rocks and stones; sometimes almost hid from view, and again bursting into sight, having gained, in its wanderings, additional size and strength. Yet still, as it glided along, whether in the dark shade of the forest, or brightly glittering in the sun, whether calmly gurgling, gayly dancing, or wildly dashing onward, it too, seemed to murmur," passing away.”

5. Alone, unwatched and unnursed, a delicate flower raised its head, and opened its tiny petals to the light, diffusing beauty and fragrance around. But though fair, it was also fragile. Crushed and broken, it soon fell to the earth; and as it wafted abroad its last faint gush of perfume, it seemed to breathe forth the words, "passing away."

6. In a shady dell roamed a fair child, culling flowers from the banks of the stream that rippled at her feet. Twining a garland for her head, she bent over the clear waters, and as she there saw her youthful brow so gayly ornamented, with a bounding step she hastened homeward; but ere she arrived, the flowers had withered and died; and while with tearful eyes she gazed upon them, she received thus early her first lesson of the vanity of all things earthly, that like flowers they swiftly "pass away."

7. The sun had set behind the western hills, and twilight was gradually deepening into night, as a strain of music, low and sweet, fell upon the ear. Louder and clearer came the notes, till at length they burst forth into one rich, full peal; then grew fainter and fainter, weaker and weaker; but as its last low tone died in the distance, it feebly murmured, "passing away."

8. In a dark and lonely room, sat an aged man. His head was bereft of hair, save a few locks, which were completely silvered o'er. Life with him was ebbing fast; his course was nearly run. Threescore years and ten, allotted to man, he had more than numbered; but to him they had brought nothing except "vanity and vexation of spirit ;" and as he silently gazed on a clock which stood near, whose distinct and regular ticking told of the flight of time, he felt that he too, like the moments, was swiftly "passing away."

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9. Thus is mutability stamped on all things; the fashion of this world, and even the heavens and the earth, will finally 'pass away;" nothing is exempted; wherever we turn our eyes, we behold stamped, as in words of fire, "passing away;" and on every sound that comes to our ears are borne the words, "passing away!" "passing away!"

EXERCISE III.

RULE 3. Language of joy, mirth, or other pleasurable emotions, should be read on a key a little above the middle pitch, with a smooth, flowing voice, and the quick movement.

NATURE A SOURCE OF CHEERFULNESS.

M. MONTAGUE.

1. NATURE is full of music. Come out with me, and listen a moment to its songs and its songsters, its choirs and its choruses. It is spring time; and so let us go out to the grove and old forests; a thousand woodland notes are breaking in softest and sweetest harmony on the ear.

2. It is their time of loves, the little birds. How does

QUESTIONS. What is the third rule for expression? Point out some striking passages in this piece which illustrate the rule.

the Great Life cause the poetry of our life to gush out by the motion of such tender sensibilities! Music, -O, ye little warblers, I feel it now; ye pour it into my soul, - now with your twittering gleesomeness, now in notes wild, and loud. and long, now low, soft and plaintive.

3. Come forth and listen.

beneath this aged pine-tree.

Sit down upon this mossy bank,
Above us listen to the zephyr.

Its cadences are now melting away into the still and liquid

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air, now rising, now swelling, now falling, — O, the sweet zephyr, the breeze, ye are making wild havoc of my fancy, as your gentle fingers sweep the harpstrings of the soul!

4. Look down at our feet; sweet music comes up from those dimpling waters, as they dance on in their gladness to the sea; from the murmuring of that bright cascade, just up among the trees. This is some of nature's music.

5. Nature, too, is full of beautiful pencilings. And how, where shall we begin to look? Shall it be in autumn or in spring, in the summer or in cold winter? Shall it be in the blue sky up yonder, or in the emerald tints of the ocean, where fairy forms sport with the lone moonbeam in their coral home?

6. Shall it be in the bloom and blush of flowers, the green grass, the waving harvests, the variegated hues of autumn, when the dying year is decking herself in richest colorings; or shall it be with the beautifully bended rainbow, the golden clouds which twine and wreathe their gorgeous robes about the setting sun, and with the sparkling gems which shine out when the clear night comes on? The "picture gallery" of nature, is not comprehended at one view. The panorama about us, is wide-spreading and glorious. Nature is rich in beautiful paintings.

7. Again, nature affords the choicest architectural speciLook up to the spacious dome of this great temple

mens.

QUESTION. What instruction may be derived from this piece?

we live in; to "its blue overarching canopy;" to its broad and stately pillars, the mountains, lofty and majestic, rough, unhewn. Look out upon the tempest-beaten oak of a hundred winters, as in its efflorescence and strength, it reaches out its sheltering arms to its fellows. Angles and turrets and columns, now in complexity, now in simplicity and grace, charm the soul of him who sees with the seeing eye.

8. Nature is full of variety. Come out and breathe the breath of the open day. Does this wild mountain spot fail to awaken our rapturous emotions with its high and rocky battlements down there, its steep colonnades and shelving cliffs, its covering of shaggy shrubs, of wild coarse grass? Go down, then, into this valley below, so smiling it looks. Drink in the fragrance of its flowers; wander along by its winding and romantic stream.

9. But will you be pleased with neither the mountain nor the valley? Then, O then, come out to the rejoicing pastures, the verdant landscape, the woods, and the dark forests. Go out where you will, and look on the ten thousand changing scenes above, below, and around you. Look to the sky, and see how the glow of heaven is thick inlaid with pictures of bright gold. Look to the earth, look wherever you may, and in nature's endless variety you shall

“Find tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything."

EXERCISE IV.

RULE 4. Language of declamation, as public speeches, orations, and the like, should be read with a distinct and forcible utterance; the pitch and movement varying according to the intensity of the emotions.

QUESTION. What is the fourth rule for expression?

PATRIOTIC TRIUMPH.

MAXCY..

1. THE citizens of America celebrate that day which gave birth to their liberties. The recollection of this event, replete with consequences so beneficial to mankind, swells every heart with joy, and fills every tongue with praise.

2. We celebrate not the sanguinary exploits of a tyrant, to subjugate and enslave millions of his fellow-creatures; we celebrate neither the birth nor the coronation of that phantom styled a king, — but the resurrection of liberty, the emancipation of mankind, the regeneration of the world. These are the sources of our joy, these the causes of our triumph.

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3. We pay no homage at the tomb of kings, to sublime our feelings; we trace no line of illustrious ancestors, to support our dignity; we recur to no usages sanctioned by the authority of the great, to protect our rejoicing;-no! we love liberty, we glory in the rights of men, we glory in independence. On whatever part of God's creation a human form pines under chains, there Americans drop their chains.

4. A dark cloud once shaded this beautiful quarter of the globe. Consternation for a while agitated the hearts of the inhabitants. War desolated our fields, and buried our vales in blood, but the day-spring from on high soon opened upon us its glittering portals.

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5. The angel of liberty, descending, dropped on Washington's brow the wreath of vietory, and stamped on American freedom the seal of Omnipotence. The darkness is past, and the true light now shines, to enliven and rejoice mankind.

6. Well may we rejoice at the return of this glorious anniversary; a day dear to every American; a day to be had in everlasting remembrance; a day whose light circulates joy through the hearts of all republicans, and terror through the hearts of all tyrants.

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